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Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies Records
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Public Policy Papers. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies was a propaganda organization formed in May, 1940 by William Allen White of the Kansas City Emporia Gazette and Clark M. Eichelberger of the League of Nations Association. White and Eichelberger envisioned the Committee as a means of determining and molding public opinion throughout the country regarding the United States' position on aid to the Allied cause. Upon formation the Committee's concern was only to "Aid the Allies." However, throughout its tenure the Committee adopted several concrete goals: the sale of destroyers to Great Britain; the release by the U.S. government of Flying Fortresses, pursuit planes, and mosquito boats to Great Britain; the passage of the Lend-Lease Bill in Congress; the use of convoys to safely escort Allied supplies; and the revision of the 1935 Neutrality Act to arm U.S. ships for defense against Axis attacks. At no time did the Committee ever ask for a declaration of war, although by October 1941, with the sinking of the destroyer "Reuben James", committee policy did recognize that active participation in the war was quickly becoming inevitable.
White and Eichelberger organized the Committee through a telegram sent out under White's name asking a group of people for their support of the Committee. The response was quick and positive, and during the next few days support from across the country poured in forming the basis of the National Committee of the organization with William Allen White as the chair and Clark Eichelberger as the executive director. White served as the National Committee Chair from May 1940 to January 1941 when he resigned due to ill-health and age, as well as disagreements within the Committee on policy matters. After White's resignation Ernest W. Gibson became the Committee Chair until called to active duty in the spring of 1941. At this time Clark Eichelberger took over the position until the dissolution of the Committee in January 1942. The Executive Committee of the Committee to Defend America was formed with Hugh Moore as the chair and Frederick C. McKee as the treasurer. Other members of the Executive Committee were Thomas K. Finletter, Frank G. Boudreau, Lewis W. Douglas, all of New York City; and Mrs. Emmons Blaine of Chicago, Illinois. With the resignation of White the Committee made an effort to restructure itself and enlarge both the Executive Committee and the National Policy Committee in an effort to democratize the policy-making procedures of the Committee.
The National Committee headquarters operated out of the New York City office. Robert F. Duncan (Assistant to Clark Eichelberger, National Director) was in charge of running this office. Other regional headquarters were established in San Francisco, CA, Boston, MA, Chapel Hill, NC, and eventually in Chicago, IL in order to more easily facilitate the organization and maintenance of the state and local chapters. In addition to a small paid staff in New York City, 4,350 people worked as volunteers at the National Headquarters. The National Headquarters Office was divided into the following divisions: Administrative Management; Executive Committee; National Committee; Fund Raising; State and Local Committees; Publicity; Radio and Speakers Bureau; Women's Division; College Division; Youth Division; and Labor Division.
Although the National Committee eventually grew to number approximately 600 members, the State and Local Chapters formed the backbone of the Committee to Defend America. State and Local Chapters were formed in every state, as well as in the U.S. Territories of Alaska, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands and in Canada. In addition to the State and Local Chapters other divisions and committees were formed for various sectors of the membership. These included the Historians Committee, Scientists Committee, Artists Committee, Writers Committee, Women's Division, Labor Division, College Division, and Youth Division. Most of the members of these various committees and divisions were members of their local chapters, but also participated in the more specialized committees. An "Americans in Britain" chapter was formed in England, and the Committee garnered support from people all over the world. The smaller, specialized committees which did not have their own division in the National Committee Office were supervised by the State and Local Committee Division or the Administrative Management as appropriate.
The Committee to Defend America supported itself through fund-raising activities and voluntary contributions from its membership. Contributions averaged $25.00 per individual, although one contribution was as large as $10,000.00, and the smallest was $.12 in food stamps. The Committee kept in touch with its membership through printed newsletters, flyers, pamphlets and newspaper advertisements, as well as through radio spots and rallies. The Women's Division sponsored song and poster contests in an effort to raise the visibility of the Committee to an even higher level. Buttons, stickers, matchbooks, and car plates were also made available to the general public to raise funds. In addition to Field Representatives sponsored by the State and Local Chapter Division, the Committee also sponsored well-known individuals to speak on behalf of the Committee's aims.
With the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese the Committee to Defend America acknowledged that its work had come to an end, at least in its present incarnation. Committee members agreed, though, that there was still work to be accomplished, specifically to prepare the United States for the peace to come after the war. The Committee to Defend America joined with the Council for Democracy to form Citizens for Victory: To Win the War, To Win the Peace. This organization was not as active nor as well known as the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. By this time people were caught up with actual war work and could not be as easily persuaded to think about the future. Though the Committee to Defend America dissolved itself for all practicable purposes in January 1941, the official cessation did not occur until October 1942.
Consists of files relating to the political, educational, and fund-raising activities of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. Included are 1) correspondence (such as that of Roger S. Greene, associate director of the Committee), daily reports, and subject files of the Committee's administrative management division at its national headquarters office in New York City; 2) executive committee correspondence and minutes; 3) state and local chapters material--correspondence, field representatives files, chapter records; 4) records of college, labor, and women's divisions; 5) fund-raising files from the Committee's NYC headquarters; and 6) published materials put out by the Committee, such as cartoons, Christmas cards, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases, radio transcripts, and speeches. Other Committee members who figure prominently in the collection are Ernest W. Gibson, national director until the spring of 1941; Hugh Moore, chairman of the executive committee; Frederick C. McKee, treasurer; and Robert F. Duncan, assistant to the national director.
Portions of the Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies Records have been digitized by Gale Primary Sources and are available to subscribing institutions.
Hugh Moore, owner of the Dixie Cup, Co. and Executive Chair of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies donated the records to the Princeton in 1968. Other materials added to the collection include New York City Chapter materials found in the Fight for Freedom Committee, Inc. collection, also at the Mudd Library.
A booklet published by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, titled "The Token of Freedom," was donated by Charlotte Lewis in 2016. The accession number associated with this donation is ML-2016-021.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
This collection was processed by Melissa A. Johnson in May 1992. Finding aid written by Melissa A. Johnson in May 1992.
An attempt has been made to organize the records of the Committee in a way that reflects as closely as possible the original order and the way in which the Committee used the records, or when this was not possible, arranging the records in as usable an order as possible. Due to the short-term life of the Committee combined with the extremely large amount of paper work produced within this time a great deal of duplication occurred, and the files were not always kept in a consistently ordered fashion. All divisions of the Committee to Defend America worked closely with each other, and the intermingling of materials reflects this. This is especially true of the Administrative Management, which oversaw all of the divisions of the Committee and this series contains material from all divisions.
Processors discarded almost all of the financial files including all bank deposits, ledgers, checks, vouchers, and receipts. Related financial material can be found in the following series: Series 1: Administrative Management, Daily Reports; Series 2: Executive Committee minutes; and in Series 6: Fund Raising. Other discarded materials include 25 card file drawers containing membership cards and contribution receipts, duplicate materials, materials published by organizations other than the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies and organizations with which the Committee merged.
People
- Duncan, Robert F
- Eichelberger, Clark M. (Clark Mell) (1896-1980)
- Gibson, Ernest W. (1901-1969)
- Greene, Roger Sherman (1881-1941)
- McKee, Frederick C.
- Moore, Hugh (1887-1972)
- White, William Allen (1868-1944)
Subject
- Corporations, Nonprofit -- United States -- 20th century
- Lend-lease operations (1941-1945)
- Labor unions and foreign policy -- United States -- 20th century
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Economic aspects
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Propaganda
- World War, 1939 -1945 -- United States -- Public opinion
- World War, 1939 -1945 -- War work -- United States
Place
- Publisher
- Public Policy Papers
- Finding Aid Author
- Melissa A. Johnson
- Finding Aid Date
- 1997
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
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Series 1: Administrative Management: The Administrative Management division of the Committee to Defend America was in charge of the day-to-day work of the Committee at the New York City National Headquarters office, under the general daily supervision of Robert F. Duncan. Included in this series are four groups of correspondence: General Correspondence (1940 June-1941 December); Roger S. Greene's Correspondence files (1940 August-1941 December); Inter-Office Correspondence (1940 June-1942 May); and State and Local Chapter Correspondence (1940 December-1941 December). Also included are Daily Reports (1940 May-1941 July) and the Subject Files (1940 May-1941 December).
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The General Correspondence (1940 May-1941 Dec) contains correspondence from members of State and Local Chapters to the National Committee, and correspondence between members of the Administrative Management personnel. The latter includes Clark M. Eichelberger (National Director), Thomas Powers (who became National Director in 1941 when Ernest Gibson was called to active duty), Alex W. Burger (Technical Assistant for the National Committee), Robert F. Duncan (Assistant to the National Director), Alfreda Sill (Publicity Department), Roger S. Greene (Associate Director), and Frances Thomas [Mrs. Harrison Thomas] (Assistant to Clark M. Eichelberger and Director of the State and Local Chapter Division). In addition to correspondence there are memoranda related to individuals who wrote to, or called the Committee to Defend America. While these materials date from 1940 May to 1941 December, the bulk of the material dates from 1940 June to 1940 October. This material is arranged alphabetically by writer, and in reverse chronological order for each individual. Folders for individuals exist for the following people: Julian H. Barnes, Basil Brewer, Frederick C. McKee (Treasurer), Hugh Moore (Executive Chair), G.A. More (Minneapolis chapter), E.Guy Talbot (Director, West Coast Regional Office in San Francisco, CA), and William Allen White.
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Roger S. Greene's correspondence (1940 August-1941 December) documents his position as Associate Director of the Committee which he held from 1940 August to 1941 December. As Associate Director Greene dealt with a variety of issues on both the national level and within the New York City Office. Greene often fielded questions regarding policy from members of the Committee and was involved in policy-making decisions. Individual folders exist for the following people: Esther Caukin Brunauer (American Association of University Women, member of National Policy Board), Lewis W. Douglas (Chair of the National Board of the Committee to Defend America), Livingston Hartley (Washington D.C. office of CDA), Frederick C. McKee (Treasurer CDA), Mrs. Jean Rushmore Patterson (Women's Division), Thomas L. Power (CDA Adm. Mgt.), Julian Randolph, Evarts Seelye Scudder, William Allen White (Chair, CDA), and P.L. Young. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by writer, and in reverse chronological order for each individual.
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The Inter-Office Correspondence (1940 June-1942 May) consists of correspondence and memoranda between the employees of the Committee at the National Headquarters in New York City and the Washington D.C. office. Much of this relates to routine office matters, but there is also a great deal of information on the workings of the Committee in relation to policy decisions, goals of the Committee to Defend America, and committees that merged with the Committee, all showing how the Committee accomplished its goals. The material is arranged in reverse chronological order within the folders.
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The State and Local Chapter Correspondence (1940 December-1941 December) contains correspondence between members of State and Local Chapters and personnel at National Headquarters, mainly with Roger S. Greene, but also with Thomas L. Power. The Chapter Records in Series 3 contain the bulk of the correspondence with State and Local Chapters, however this is carried on mainly with Mrs. Frances Harrison Thomas, in charge of the State and Local Chapter Division, whereas correspondence in this section is with other Committee personnel. Folders exist for the following individuals: Donald C. Blaisdell (Washington, D.C. office and Field Representative), William Emerson (Chair of the New England Regional Division of CDA), and Frank S. Goodwin (Chicago Chapter, CDA).
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The Daily Reports (1940 May-1941 July) present a day-to-day diary of the activities of the New York City National Headquarters Office. While not useful on their own, these files are extremely helpful in supplementing information about the Committee's activities during a specific time period. Also included in these reports are the current number of members of the National Committee, local chairs, volunteers, gifts/contributions received, and amount of published material sent out. The Daily Reports are arranged in chronological order by folder, and are in reverse chronological order within each folder.
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The Subject Files (1940 May-1941 December) consist of the working reference files used by the Administrative Management staff in the New York City National Headquarters office. They are arranged alphabetically by subject and are in chronological order within each folder. Topics covered include many organizations with which the Committee was sympathetic and sometimes cooperated, such as the American Committee for the Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression (of which Roger S. Greene was a member), the Council for Democracy, the Fight for Freedom Committee, and the Save the Children Foundation. Also included are folders on many isolationist organizations to which the Committee was opposed. A great deal of this material consists of informational pamphlets and bulletins, but there is also correspondence with members of these groups as well. In addition to subject files for other organizations there are subject files for specific phases and aspects of the Committee to Defend America's own work. These include some of the smaller specialized committees such as the Aviation Committee and the Artists' Committee. There are folders relating to the four main issues pursued by the Committee: the sale of Destroyers and other ships and planes; the passage of the Lend-Lease Act; the use of convoys; and the Revision of the 1935 Neutrality Act. The Administrative Management also created files to use as reference for fielding the innumerable questions asked by members regarding the Committee's views, what they could do as individuals to aid the Allies, and what was really occurring in Europe. The Committee sponsored at the behest of Frederick C. McKee (Treasurer), shortwave radio broadcasts from France aired on Station WRUL in Boston. The scripts, mostly in French, are located in Series 6: Publications–Radio Transcripts, but the correspondence and a report on the effectiveness of these broadcasts is included in the Subject File.
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Series 2: Executive Committee (1940 June-1942 Jan) contains material relating to the Executive Committee of the Committee to Defend America as well as the National Committee and the National Policy Board. All material in this series is arranged chronologically. The Executive Committee material consists of correspondence (1941 January-1941 April) and minutes (1940 June-1942 January) of the Executive Committee. The correspondence is not very extensive, but consists of memoranda and letters relating to the activities of the Executive Committee. The bulk of the material consists of the minutes of the Executive Committee from 1940 June through 1942 January. The minutes are complete, including all attachments, from 1940 June to 1941 July, but from 1941 August through 1942 January consist only of carbon copies of the recorded minutes. Attachments include budgets, memoranda, correspondence referred to in the minutes, and other related materials.
The National Committee material (1940 May-1941 June) contains two subseries: lists of members and correspondence; and invitations to serve as members of the National Committee. The National Policy Board materials (1940 June-1941 December) contain four subseries: lists of members and correspondence; invitations to serve; minutes of National Policy Board meetings; and correspondence. Neither the National Committee nor the National Policy Board files document fully the activities of these two committees.
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Series 3: State and Local Chapters makes up the largest series of the collection. As noted the State and Local Chapters were the strength of the Committee. Each chapter, or, rather, the head of each chapter, was overseen by Frances Thomas [Mrs. Harrison Thomas] from the National Headquarters Office in New York City. Mrs. Thomas and her staff maintained an extensive correspondence with the chapters giving advice on how chapters should be organized and maintained, dealt with specific problems as they arose, and also explained Committee policy decisions to members. In essence, Mrs. Thomas played the role of liaison between the State and Local Chapters and the Executive Committee, the National Committee, National Policy Committee, and the Administrative Management in New York City. There is correspondence between State and Local Chapters and Committee staff in almost every series. Rather than bringing it all together the correspondence has been kept with the division to which the members wrote. Thus, there is correspondence in the following locations: Series 1: Administrative Management–Correspondence (all sections) and Subject File–Suggestions; Series 6: Fund Raising–Correspondence (State and Local Chapters), Finance Committee (Chapter Correspondence), and Contributors (Correspondence). The State and Local Chapters series is broken down into four subseries: Administrative; Correspondence; Field Representatives; and State and Local Chapter Records.
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The Administrative subseries (1940 October-1941 April) contains information on the organization of chapters as of 1941 April and the status of chapters (1940 Oct-1940 Nov) as directed by the National Headquarters office in New York City. It also contains questionnaires filled out by State and Local Chapters regarding their formation, membership and views on the Committee. This material is arranged in chronological order.
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The Correspondence subseries (1941 October-1942 May) consists of Mrs. Thomas' correspondence with members of the Administrative Management staff and other personnel of the Committee to Defend America. The correspondence is arranged in chronological order. Mrs. Thomas remained with the organization after the formation of Citizens for Victory, and correspondence from this period is included here.
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The subseries titled Field Representatives (1940 July-1942 June) contains files on members of the Committee to Defend America who traveled across the country to different chapters helping in the formation of chapters as well as aiding chapters in working out problems, fund-raising, and educating chapter members on issues of importance to the Committee. Some Field Representatives travelled from the East Coast to other parts of the country, while some Field Representatives only traveled within their own area. Donald C. Blaisdell, who later served in the U.S. Department of State, was the Washington D.C. representative for the Committee and traveled throughout the east and the south. Theodore Smith, an M.I.T. professor travelled during the summer over the entire country. Smith's reports written back to the New York Office, mostly to Mrs. Thomas and also to Clark Eichelberger are extremely detailed, well-written, and reflect Smith's sense of humor quite well. Marie F. McGuire, from Minnesota traveled throughout the midwestern states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa; and A.C. Winters spent time working in Detroit, MI as well as other areas in the midwest. Washington Platt, of Syracuse, NY, E. Fred Cullen, and Mather Elliot also traveled through various sections of the country. Field Representative who are not represented in this subseries include Martha Boswell from Georgia and Benjamin Merritt of Princeton, NJ. Correspondence with Field Representatives can also be found in Series 1: Administrative Management (General Correspondence and Roger S. Greene Correspondence) and in this Series in the State and Local Chapter Records in each representative's respective state. The files are arranged alphabetically according to the Field Representative's last name, and are arranged chronologically within those files.
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The State and Local Chapter Records are grouped according to state, then by city or region, and chronologically within each city or region. Often the Chapter Records include Citizens for Victory materials dating beyond December 1941. Material relating to the regional offices of the National Committee is included within the State and Local Chapter Records of the following chapters: San Francisco, CA [Pacific/West Coast Headquarters, E. Guy Talbot, Chair]; Atlanta, GA [Southern Zone, Armand May as Chair]; Chicago, IL [Midwest Headquarters; Adlai Stevenson, and subsequently, John A. Morrison, Chair]; Boston, MA [New England Headquarters, William Emerson, Chair]; and Chapel Hill, NC [Frank S. Goodwin [or Frank P. Graham?, Chair]. The New York City Chapter was extremely active in the work of the Committee, although at times took a much more progressive attitude toward issues than Committee policy dictated. Many problems arose because of this, and the New York City Chapter eventually officially merged with the New York City Fight for Freedom Chapter as a result of these disagreements. At the end of this series are the records of chapters in the then U.S. Territories of Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as chapters Canada and Europe. For the most part the members or correspondents are U.S. citizens living outside of the country. Many chapters published newsletters for their members; some of these can be found in Series 6: Publications subseries Newsletters.
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Series 4: Divisions contain the records of the College Division, the Labor Division, and the Women's Division of the Committee to Defend America as kept by the New York City office. The materials are arranged in chronological order within each file.
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The College Division (1940 June-1941 June) was supervised by Frances Harrison Thomas but run by Gilmore Stott. Each school presumably kept its own records and the records present are only partial. Included here are files on the conference at Union College in Schenectady, NY; correspondence; field trips taken by Stott; a notebook containing lists of chapters and a partial list of members; a group of plans, proposals and reports on the activities of the College Division; and material on related student groups including those opposed and in favor of the Committee to Defend America. The College Division was active from the fall of 1940 through the spring of 1941, but with the summer months became inactive and never quite got reorganized in the fall of 1941. A newsletter was published by the College Division, Crisis!, and existing copies can be found in Series 6: Publications, subseries Newsletters. The College Division also maintained a newspaper clipping file that is a valuable supplement to its records. The two folders are located in Series 6: Publications, Newspaper Clippings.
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The Labor Division (1940 May-1941 October) was organized by the Committee with the recognition that the working man and woman [though to the Committee it was perceived to be mainly men] formed a very important segment of the U.S. public. The Committee contacted labor leaders across the country in an effort to include them in their work, and to better reflect the needs of the working force. These materials include correspondence (1940 May-1941 October) between Committee personnel and labor leaders. Other materials can be found in Series 1: Administrative Management–Correspondence–General and Roger S. Greene, and Series 6: Publications–Newspaper Clippings–Labor Division.
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Women's Division (1940 Jun-1941 Jun) consists of two folders of correspondence and related materials attached to the correspondence. These materials are arranged chronologically. The Women's Division was formed in June 1940 at the insistence of Mrs. Jean Rushmore Patterson, the first chair of the Women's Division. This division was never thought very viable by the National Committee or Executive Committee, and was viewed as more of a headache than anything else. Other materials related to the Women's Division can be found in Series 1: Administrative Management in the General Correspondence, the Inter-Office Correspondence, and in the correspondence of Roger S. Greene under Jean Patterson's name, as well as in the Daily Reports where there was usually an entry for the Women's Division. The Women's Division published a newsletter, Alert!, copies of which are located in Series 6: Publications under Newsletters. The Women's Division sponsored a song contest and a poster contest; musical scores for the winning songs are located in Series 6: Publications, and the winning poster is located in Series 7: Oversize Materials.
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Series 5: Fund Raising (1940 May-1942 February) consists of the New York City Committee headquarters files for fund raising across the country. The Fund Raising division was responsible for designing and implementing appeals to the general public as well as various selected groups in order to raise money for the Committee to Defend America's operations. The John Price Jones Corporation played an integral part in identifying selected groups of people for the Committee to target, as well as advising the Committee on financial and fund raising matters. Fund Raising was organized with the Treasurer (Frederick C. McKee) in charge and under him was the Executive Finance Committee of three members (Thomas K. Finletter, subsequently Ellsworth Bunker, Chair). The Executive Finance Committee oversaw the Auditors (Haskin & Sells, Co.), the Comptroller (M. Areskog), and the Technical Assistant (Caleb Coffin). The Finance Committee was a smaller division within the Fund Raising division that oversaw the running of the division and was in charge of writing appeal letters and recruiting people, mostly prominent businessmen from across the country, to help raise funds. In addition there were committees for Local Committee Support, the National Finance Committee, the National Commerce and Industry Committee, and the Women's Finance Committee. Members of these committees also served in other capacities with the Committee. The series is grouped into five subseries: Correspondence; Finance Committee; Subject File; Appeals; and Contributors.
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The Correspondence consists of two smaller groups: Inter-Office (1940 June-1941 August) correspondence between personnel of the Fund Raising division as well as with personnel from other divisions of the New York City Office; and correspondence with State and Local Chapters (1940 June-1941 December) regarding fund raising activities by chapters on both the national level and the local level.
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The Finance Committee (1940 September-1941 December) subseries is also broken down into smaller groupings. The two main groups are: Correspondence (1940 November-1941 December) arranged alphabetically by author and then chronologically; Chapter Correspondence (1941 January-1941 June) arranged by state. In addition there are folders on appeal letters and the United Americans, an organization that merged with the Committee to Defend America with debts to be paid. These debts were resolved through contributions brought in through the Fund Raising department.
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The Subject File (1940 June-1941 July, and undated) contains files, arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically within, relating to the Fund Raising division. Those files pertinent to the organization of Fund Raising include: Financial reports and summaries (1940 October-1941 July) and Fundraising Plans (1940 July-1941 Jan), both of which present an overview of the Committee's financial situation and fund raising plans. The file, Star Spangled Ball, documents a fund raising ball sponsored by the Committee to Defend American in December 1940.
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The subseries, Appeals (1940 June-1941 November), includes copies of the 92 appeal letters sent out to the public, and a subject file specific to the appeal letters. The Committee tried to target as many sectors of the public as possible through its appeals. They sponsored a mailing to doctors and dentists, to businessmen, to people from the southern states, individuals working in commerce and industry, and to corporations. As a result many people received letters of appeal from the Committee, sometimes many letters of appeal. This caused some to complain that the Committee did not keep track of who it sent its appeals to and this lack of attention angered many, especially since the Committee was also asking individuals to contribute money to their local chapters as well.
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Nos. 1-92
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The subseries, Contributors (1940 May-1942 February), contains analyses of contributions (1940 May-1941 Jan), lists of individuals who contributed (1940 May-1942 Feb), and correspondence from contributors (1940 May-1942 Jan), all arranged chronologically.
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Series 6: Publications (1940 May-1942 Aug) consists of published materials put out by the Committee to Defend America and by Citizens for Victory. Publications are divided into the following types and are arranged chronologically when dates are given: Cartoons; Chapter Mailings; Christmas Cards; Flyers; Invitations; Membership Cards; Musical Scores; Newsletters; Newspaper Advertisements; Newspaper Clippings; Pamphlets; Petitions; Postcards; Press Releases; Programs; Radio Transcripts; Reprints; Speeches; Statements of Policy; Stickers; and Subscription List Forms. The Newsletters are further arranged by National Newsletters, State and Local, College Division and Women's Division. The Press Releases include general releases by the Committee, copies of a syndicated column sponsored by the Committee called "It Makes Sense", and the press releases of the National Labor Division of the Committee.
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(nos. 1-19)
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(nos. 1-29)
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(nos. 1-50)
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(nos. 1-6)
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(nos. 3-4)
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(nos. 1-22)
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Series 7: Oversize Materials contains posters and newspaper advertisements published by the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies.
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Series 8: Microfilms contains positive and negative microfilms of files in Series 1.
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Series 9: Photographs and Artifacts contains miscellaneous photographs as well small activist pins relating to the Committee to Defend America.
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